What is the oldest ball that you use now?
I have a real old ball that I use. I had it resurfaced and brought back to life. The ball is a Columbia yellow dot bleeder ball. At first I had a 600 surface put on it then I changed it to 400 grit surface and it works a lot better on the lanes I bowl on two leagues with. I bought it in 1978 when I joined a mixed league with my wife. It was my first fingertip ball. This was at the time that they were making soft plastic balls to replace the rubber balls that were around at that time. My wife kept telling me to throw it away and I am glad that I didn't. It is my choice for my strike ball. I used to use my Blue Hammer for my strike ball but my Columbia yellow dot seemed to get more strikes and better pin carry even if I didn't hit the head pin. I use the Blue hammer for picking up spares that are to the right of the head pin. So this ball has some years on it and it works great. Our house pattern is 43 feet long and the lanes are never dry. So I found out that old balls can still do the job. The highest game I had with it this year is a 229. I still get a good number of strikes with it.
Arsenal: Raw Hammer Orange/Black Hybrid 14lbs, Blue Hammer urethane 14lbs, Columbia 300 Lava Ball Plastic 14lbs, Highest scratch series 710 Bowling 38 years Never hit that 300 game. Highest game 276, had 11 strikes and one spare in the middle of that game.
For a long time it was the original Faball Blue Hammer. Now my oldest ball that I use is a Roto Grip Hyper Cell (2014) that I only use for sport shots and tournaments - because of the very limited usage of this ball it doesn't really get a ton of games per year so it has stayed in my arsenal for a long time.
Currently in the arsenal: Roto Grip Hyper Cell (@2000), Hammer Gauntlet Fury (@1000 polished), Roto Grip Idol (@2000), Storm IQ Tour Emerald (@1500 polished), Storm Phaze 4 (@1500 polished), Hammer Cherry Vibe (@1500 polished), Hammer Black Widow Urethane (@1000), Jet Blackbird
Not that old as I restarted from zero a year or so back. I guess my IQ Tour (midnight blue, mat finish). I got a remade issue of the original ball, but I think the original is from like 2014 or so. I use this ball when oil is extra heavy (or a long pattern), mostly for Las Vegas roll offs.
Recently retired and returning to bowing after a 12 year break
Slower ball speed with dominate revs, prefer strait at the pocket but deep is fine too
In my bag... Storm Phase 3, Roto Grip Idol Pearl, Storm IQ Tour Emerald, 900 Global White Hot Badger, Motiv Venom Recoil, and Motiv Supra Enzo
My IQ Tour Nano Is creeping up on 6 years old, and really isn't showing signs of leaving my arsenal any time soon. It's the best ball-down ball I have.
Old guy with power (15.5-16; 325). Current arsenal--Storm Summit, RotoGrip Idol Helios, Storm Phaze III, Storm SureLock (retired), Storm IQ Tour Nano and Motiv Rebel tank (spare/dry). High sanctioned game - 300 (5). High sanctioned series - 856. A.V. 300-s - 8. Longest string - 25.
2024/2025 YTD highs--High game-288; high series-736
Strike Zone? Like from 2004. I had 300 with it a couple of years ago.
Ball speed: 17 - 18.5 mph Rev rate: 400ish
PAP 6 1/8" over 1/4" up
13° axis tilt / 30°-60° axis rotation
Thumbless bowler
High game: 300 High series: 804 High average: 217
I took a 17 year break and came back 2 years ago so had to buy all new everything. The first ball I bought was a Hammer Black Widow Gold in January 2018 so 2 years old is my oldest ball. I still use it when the lanes start transitioning.
Arsenal "15# Global Eternity Pi-45x4.5x40" "15# 900 Global Xponent-60x4.5x40" "15# 900 Global Zen Soul-60x4.5x40" "15# Roto Grip Idol Helios-90 x 2.25 x 45" "15# 900 Global Altered Reality-50x3.625x30" "15# Brunswick Uppercut-80x3.625x35" "15# Brunswick Igniter-70x5.5x35" "15# Raw Hammer Pearl 45x5.75x40" "15# Brunswick T-Zone"
Rev Rate about 270 @ about 15.5 MPH at the pins* High Game: 290 - High Series: 733. PAP: 5 1/8"x1" up; tilt 20*, rotation 75*. YTD highs - 290-733
Oh, and LEFTY!!!
Well it looks like I might have the oldest ball that is still in use. Let's see, that makes my Columbia yellow dot about 42 years old. I think Mark Roth used these when he was bowling in the 70s. I remember watching Mark on TV in the 70s when pro bowling was on channel 7 here in Chicago on Saturday afternoons. I watched those shows as much as possible. Now all of the bowlers I used to watch back then are old guys like me. I even watched pro bowling in the 50s when I was a kid with my parents who liked to watch them. One guy from the 50s was Don Carter. It looked like he had a broken arm when he bowled. You can probably find those games on Youtube. I saw Mark Roth bowling Pete Weber in the late 70s. Mark really put some heat into that ball when he threw it. He was an aggressive bowler back then.
Last edited by Hammer; 01-17-2020 at 09:53 AM.
Arsenal: Raw Hammer Orange/Black Hybrid 14lbs, Blue Hammer urethane 14lbs, Columbia 300 Lava Ball Plastic 14lbs, Highest scratch series 710 Bowling 38 years Never hit that 300 game. Highest game 276, had 11 strikes and one spare in the middle of that game.
I think you meant to write that your yellow dot is 44 years old.Originally Posted by Hammer
I still have my Ebonite Signature sitting out in the garage, but that hasn’t been thrown since 2009.
John
Yeah, that was a big oops. I come out with 42 years though and not 44.
Arsenal: Raw Hammer Orange/Black Hybrid 14lbs, Blue Hammer urethane 14lbs, Columbia 300 Lava Ball Plastic 14lbs, Highest scratch series 710 Bowling 38 years Never hit that 300 game. Highest game 276, had 11 strikes and one spare in the middle of that game.
And I could have sworn I typed 42.
John
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